Emirates sponsors travel journalism award

FOR THE SECOND consecutive year, Emirates is sponsoring the Travel Journalism Award category of the 15th Malta Journalism Awards, organised by the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM).

Held for the first time last year, the Travel Journalism category rewards the work of Malta's travel journalists. The winner will be presented with the category trophy designed by a Maltese artist, a Lm150 cash prize and two Emirates return business class flights to Dubai, including three nights' accommodation in a five-star hotel.

The Emirates initiative follows a substantial increase in travel coverage by the Maltese media in recent years.

For this year's edition, there are three new categories bringing the total number of categories to 12. The awards finalists will be announced on October 14 and the winners will be presented with the awards on November 14.

IGM chairman Malcolm J. Naudi said: "Travelling to destinations such as the Gulf countries, in particular Dubai, the Far East and Australia, has shown a marked increase among Maltese travelers. Today, Maltese travel journalists are an important source of information and education both for leisure and business travelers. The IGM recognises the growing importance of this branch of journalism and last year we decided to reward this journalistic service by creating a dedicated travel category in our annual journalism awards competition.

"We are delighted that Emirates, one of the world's most innovative airlines as well as one of the great business success stories of our time, has extended its sponsorship for this award. They join an impressive sponsors list comprising of some of the world's top brands."

Emirates has been offering direct flights from Malta to Dubai since March 1998. From this month the airline will fly four times weekly, from Dubai to Malta via Larnaca, Cyprus, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, using an Airbus A330-200.

Paul Fleri Soler, Emirates' manager for Malta and Cyprus, said: "Malta is the first country where Emirates sponsors a travel journalism award and it is a great satisfaction for Emirates to support the IGM. We see this as a good opportunity to support the IGM's drive to further improve quality, in our case where travel journalism is concerned."

The Travel Journalism Category, as well as the other categories, are open to all journalists, irrespective of whether they are IGM members as long as their work was published in print, broadcast or Web media during 2004.